Month: February 2018

A few weeks ago, the state I reside in and call home sent out a message through the phone emergency system. My wife and I were hopping in the car on January 13, 2018 around 8:07 am when she asked me, “Hey, did you get this message on your phone?”

I checked my phone and saw the missile warning trailed by “THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

As a systems guy, I checked all other resources before panicking.

Social Media. Check.

Radio Stations. Check.

Sirens (which should’ve been the first thing). Check.

Phone call from brother-in-law mentioning that it’s on a specific channel. CHECK.

We went ahead and waited for the all clear indoors.

38 minutes of uncertainty on our islands. Some people prepared, some not, most annoyed and everyone wanted accountability.

So who to blame? I’m a firm believer of asking why until we find the root cause. Listening to SuperFlyOz he hits the nail on the head using JCI’s Active Citizen Framework. So I was inspired to prepare the following chart:

Like this:

A popular meme that can be found by googling “What a customer really needed”

Solution Development Life Cycle (SDLC) consist of steps that are used by developers to plan, design, build, test, and deliver solutions. The basic steps seem simple enough, however, challenges will be presented. Above shows a comic poking fun at everyone’s perspectives.

The plan for the customer is to have a seat that can swing on a tree. As you can see, there are different interpretations. We must take the time to iron out differences. For example, stakeholders must provide clear, purposeful input and feedback while utilizing the expertise of each person (designer, programmer, sales, etc.).

Not all blame should be put on the stakeholder, though. Looking through each panel of the meme, every person involved in a project is guilty of being excessive in different ways. As a team progresses through each step of the cycle, there will be new factors and variables that could affect the original idea. That is why it is important for a stakeholder to not only provide input during the planning stage but offer feedback until the solution is delivered and approved.

Sometimes we just have to laugh about our differences and celebrate when we provide exactly what’s needed. Other times, maybe we need to be conscious about eachother’s strengths and weaknesses.